Zutara Week 2012!
by aotiger13
Summary: My entries for Zutara week! Each will be a random drabble-ish thing, in which time is flexible and amount of Zuko/Katara interaction will vary. And yes, I am aware they are extremely late, sorry. Anyway, hope you enjoy! R&R please! Disclaimer: I don't own anything!
1. Serendipity

I. Serendipity

Katara couldn't find Aang. It was the day after Zuko's coronation, and Katara had hoped to have a quiet lunch with Aang in one of the palace gardens. Aang hadn't shown, which wasn't like him, and Katara was starting to worry, as was her instinct with Aang. She had asked a servant to send for her if Aang came to the garden and decided to go look for him. At first, she was worried. But with each step she became more annoyed. She had made it clear to him, she had thought. And as her boyfriend, she had thought he would have jumped at the chance to be alone with her. So, his absence made no sense.

As she turned another corner, she came upon an unfamiliar door. She started to walk past the door to continue her search, when she realized she had no idea where she was. Now she was frustrated and angry with herself for getting lost. And, to top that, there were no servants around. Not one. She stood there for a moment, contemplating her options. Finally, she decided to retrace her steps. She turned around and came face-to-face with the unfamiliar door. Katara's anger and annoyance vanished as her inner curiosity took over. She reached out to touch the plain, wooden door, and to her astonishment, it swung inward without a sound.

The room seemed plain to her, almost as if it didn't fit in with the rest of the Fire Nation Palace. But there was something special in this plain room. Propped up against the back wall, there was a painting. This painting showed a beautiful woman embracing a young boy by a pond of turtleducks. Katara thought he looked familiar, but she couldn't figure out the boy's identity. She sat down in front of the painting to get a better look. The boy looked so familiar…

"Katara?"

Katara spun around to see Zuko standing in the doorway with a confused expression on his face. "Zuko! I-I got lost and found this room and, uh…" Even to her ears her voice sounded pathetic. She winced and then looked to Zuko's face. He was staring past her at the painting with a faraway look in his eyes, almost as if… And then it hit her. "Oh, Zuko, is this you?" she asked, pointing to the boy. He looked at her and inclined his head in a nod before he came into the room and sat beside her so she could only see the unscarred side of his face.

Neither of them broke the silence for a few moments. Katara eventually said, "She's very beautiful."

"Yeah, she was." He paused, "She was kind to everyone and always helped me out." He paused again, "If only she could help me now."

"Zuko," Katara began, "you're doing fine. In just one day, you've managed to inspire people of all four nations to help rebuild the world. You've only been the ruler of a nation for one day, and you've already changed the path of the world. Zuko, that's amazing for anyone to accomplish in a year. Besides, you have Iroh and the rest of us to help you if you need it."

Zuko sighed. "I know. I just…miss her."

"I know Zuko, I know."

They sat in silence once more, each person thinking of their own mother. This time, Zuko broke the silence, "Do you ever wonder what life would be like if she were still here?"

"All the time. I always used to wonder what I would have been doing if she were there to do the laundry and clean. I always wished I didn't have to act like a mother when I didn't have one myself."

Zuko smirked and replied, "Yeah. You always acted like the mother of our group." A few more moments of silence commenced before Zuko continued, "I used to wish my mother had still been with me when I was thirteen. If she had been there, maybe…" he trailed off into contemplative silence, raising hand to his scarred cheek.

"Maybe what, Zuko?" Katara quietly asked.

Zuko hesitated in replying and said softly, "Maybe she could've stopped this."

Katara was speechless for about three seconds before she exclaimed, "No!"

Zuko's head jerked up and his eyes shot to her face, and she could see the angry set of his jaw. "What? You think I deserved this ugly aberration?"

"No, that's not what I meant at all!" She defended. Upon seeing him open his mouth again, she plunged ahead, "What I meant was it makes you Zuko!" She closed her eyes and winced, waiting for his sure-to-be-angry response. But it never came. Katara opened her eyes to see Zuko gaping at her. Once their eyes met, Zuko looked away and settled his gaze on the painting once more.

"I came to this room seeking help from my mother's spirit. But what I found was you." Zuko's eyes met Katara's and she could see the slightest quirk of his lips into a small smile of gratitude. "Thanks Katara. That means a lot, coming from you."

She smiled in return, "You're welcome Zuko."


	2. Momentous

II. Momentous

The Gaang was back together for a momentous occasion. It was the wedding of two members of Team Avatar and was held on Kyoshi Island. Of course, Avatar Aang and his traveling companion Katara were present, as was Officer Toph from Ba Sing Se. Also in attendance were a majority of the Order of the White Lotus, most of the members of the Southern Water Tribe, and, of course, all of the Kyoshi Warriors.

It had been two and a half years since the war had ended, and yet this was the first time Katara had seen her brother, since she had been all around the world with Aang. Seeing her dad and brother again, and then seeing Suki in her ivory wedding dress and Toph actually voluntarily wearing a dress really struck Katara. She had missed her family and friends, and his wedding made her yearn to stop traveling and settle down. But, of course, her boyfriend was the Avatar, and he had responsibilities. But she was tired of responsibilities and taking care of other people. Seeing Suki fretting over her hair before the wedding awakened a desire in Katara to settle down too. After just a few minutes of Suki's worrying and Toph's occasional sarcastic "You look greats" and her inner turmoil swirling around in her head, Katara decided to go outside the hut for a short breath of fresh air.

She walked past the seats set up and past the main part of the outdoor place where the wedding would take place and stood by a tree, staring up at the sky, deep in thought. She was so distracted in fact; she didn't even hear the arrival of one of her best friends. "Hey Katara." He hesitantly spoke. She whipped around and came face-to-face with Firelord Zuko, minus his usual battalion of guards.

"Zuko!" She exclaimed, bursting forward to give him a hug long in the coming.

He chuckled, "Long time, no see, Katara. What has it been, three years?" He asked once they had separated.

"Two and half actually, Sparky." She smirked and folded her arms across her chest. He silently nodded, and she took the opportunity to scan behind him for his perpetually monotonous girlfriend, but didn't see her. She decided to ask Suki or Toph later. For the moment, though, her eyes slid back to the man that could be called her best friend. She noticed he looked slightly bigger and held his head a little higher, as if a weight had been lifted from his still-young shoulders.

"So, uh…" He trailed off. She noticed with a chortle he was still the same old awkward Zuko. He cleared his throat, "How have you been?"

"Oh, fine, I guess. I swear Aang and I have been to every corner of the world and helped every person in the world. It's nice to be here with Sokka, my dad, Toph and Suki and just live in one place for a bit with all my friends, you know?" She looked up to his face and saw understanding lurking in his golden eyes.

"I know just what you mean. At the palace, the paperwork seems endless and the meetings take up a lot of time. It's nice to be away from all that, just for a few days." Katara nodded they lapsed into a friendly but thoughtful silence.

Katara was snapped out of her thoughts when she saw Sokka come into view with Aang trailing along behind him. "Well, I think I better check up on Suki, make sure she doesn't start freaking out." She started to walk back towards the hut. She turned her head and waved over her shoulder, "See you later, Zuko."

He raised his hand to wave back. And then she was gone. He noticed more and more people were seemingly coming out of nowhere and taking seats for the wedding. He decided to talk to Sokka about where he had to stand in his friend's wedding.

Katara walked into the hut just in time to see Suki practically bite Toph's head off. Luckily, all Katara had to say was, "Suki, you'll mess up your dress, relax" and Suki calmed down. Then, naturally, Suki broke down into tears. Katara rushed over and comforted her, which saved Suki's dress and hair, but not her makeup. Katara set about a quick redo, since the wedding was going to start any minute. As Katara worked she absentmindedly listened to Toph rant about how Suki 'probably looked just as pretty as those snooty girls in Ba Sing Se' when she started to zone out. Now that the distraction of bridal drama had passed, Katara's mind was again plagued by the desire to stop traveling so much. She had just sat down when she was startled to hear Suki saying her name.

"Huh? Sorry, I wasn't listening. Could you say it again?"

"Yeah, sure. I said, did you hear about what happened to Mai?" Suki asked.

"No," Katara was instantly filled with minor concern, "what happened, did she get hurt? Is that why she's not here?"

"Quit worrying, Sweetness. She's fine. It was a while ago." Toph reassured.

"Yeah. Six months ago, she broke up with Zuko because her father told her she was already engaged." Suki said in a nonchalant way, though she watched Katara for her reaction.

"Oh. No wonder Zuko seemed…different." Katara said to herself.


	3. Transcend

III. Transcend

The Royal Advisors were driving him crazy with this talk of marriage. The marriage talk had started immediately following his return from Kyoshi Island over two months ago. Firelord Zuko's minor headache from around midday had now transformed into a fully incapacitating explosion inside his head, and he silently prayed to Agni it would be over soon. Until then, Zuko kept a constant flitting gaze to each man in the room, coupled with the nod if one asked his permission to speak. Though, mostly, he let the older men fight it out and argue about what kind of woman would be suitable as the Lady to their nation.

Then, one of Advisors that hadn't spoken since Firelord Zuko had returned from his friends' wedding cleared his throat. A hush fell over the room as every Advsior listened to what he had to say. This man had white hair and a face bearing a great many lines, but his eyes seemed to slightly resemble those of Zuko's Uncle: twinkling with wisdom. The man had been watching his Firelord for the last few minutes and had noticed the tight set of his jaw. The man caught the Firelord's gaze and Zuko tried to listen through his skull-splitting headache as the man spoke. He said, "Since we, as a counsel, cannot come to an agreement, perhaps we should adjourn for the day." The man looked up at Zuko expectantly, as did everyone else, though most had slightly confused looks on their faces.

Zuko was immensely thankful for the old General's intervention in the bickering. He agreed and dismissed the council. Firelord Zuko headed toward the door across the hall. As he reached it, he was intercepted by one of his servants. "Firelord Zuko, sir, there was a letter received today by messenger hawk for you from the South Pole. I placed it on the desk in your Royal Chambers."

Zuko managed a brief "Thank you" before he turned and resumed his relatively quick pace to reach his room. His headache only seemed to intensify as neared his room, and upon entering, he threw his Royal Robes to the floor along with his headpiece and fell into his bed. He groaned and tossed and turned for a while before sleep finally came.

When Zuko awoke, it was dark outside. At first, he did not get up, for his bed was extremely comfortable. But, after a few moments, he realized his headache was gone and he was hungry. Judging by the black sky, he had missed dinner.

Zuko sat up and shot a small jet of fire at the lamp situated on the wall that was dimly lit by the waning moon. Immediately, he noticed a tray sitting on his small writing desk. Zuko stood and walked to the chair beside it to sit, and then he shifted his gaze to the tray. He saw a letter in rough white paper and a dish covered by a tray. His hunger getting the better of him, he lifted the lid off the dish. Underneath was a bowl of noodles and fish. Zuko smiled to himself at his servants' thoughtfulness.

Using his firebending, he warmed up the food and ate it, disregarding the letter for a moment. Once finished, Zuko picked up the letter, expecting it to be from Sokka, detailing his day, or something, and opened it. Zuko was pleasantly surprised to find lighter and smaller strokes of ink than those belonging to Sokka. Zuko's gaze fitted to the bottom to see Katara's name. With new curiosity, Zuko read Katara's letter.

_Zuko,_

_I felt like writing a letter, and you're the first person that came to mind, since Toph can't read and Aang is I-don't-know-where-in-the-world-right-now. So right now I'm sitting in my home in the South Pole, bored, (for once). Ever since I decided I needed a break from traveling a month ago, I've been living with my family in the Southern Water Tribe. I've been kept busy until now, helping benders from the North Pole rebuild our village, healing people, helping Suki adjust to the cold while Sokka's out with Dad learning what Sokka calls "manly-chiefy-stuff." All that has kept me busy and I didn't have time to think. But now that things have slowed down, I've been thinking about what I want._

_I know what you're thinking, I never tell anyone what I really want. I can't talk to Sokka, Suki or my Dad: they're too busy. I can't talk to Aang or Toph: they wouldn't understand. No one but you, Zuko, because I just feel like I can tell you anything, and you won't brush me off or try to make me change my mind. I guess maybe because you're my best friend, and we've been through so much together that we, I don't know, understand each other? Wow, that sounds really sappy._

_Anyway, I guess what I'm trying to say is that I don't want to fly around the world anymore. I mean, it was fun for a while, but, now… What I really want is to just stop and live, not 'flowing with the wind' or something._

_Well, enough with my girly ranting. How are things in the Palace, Sparky?_

_Sincerely,  
Katara__  
_

Zuko was, to put it bluntly, stunned. He had no idea Katara had stopped traveling with Aang, or that she was in the South Pole, or that she trusted him so much. Zuko thought about Katara's letter for a moment before he remembered his own dilemma. He decided he would write her back and ask her advice on his marriage/council problem. Maybe she could help. He hastily opened a drawer in the desk and found some paper and ink. Practically throwing his empty bowl on the floor, he started his letter, writing deep into the night.


End file.
